The Aphrodites
by Dancing-StarryEyedDemigod
Summary: The daughters of Aphrodite have tricks up their sleeves. At year round camp, what can happen when there's no war to worry about? -Rated for possible situations-
1. Summer Days

::::SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ AUTHOR'S NOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE 5TH BOOK:::

This takes place after the 5th book.  
Hmmm, wait... that might not work out.  
Okay, just imagine that there was no kiss, and there wasn't that scene at the end where they raced each other to the tree, and blah blah blah.

Please no flaming. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. But reviews that say things like "OMG have you even READ the series?" or "THAT STORY SUCKED YOU'RE HORRIBLE!" are not appreciated. I try my best, but it may not be good enough for you.

Thank you.

I do not own Percy Jackson and/or the characters used in the story.

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**The Aphrodites: chapter 1**

"No," I said simply, tossing a few dirty socks into my clothes hamper as Annabeth gave me a 3 on the final inspection sheet. I was starting to think she was going easy on me.  
"Come on, Percy," Annabeth said. "You'll love it."  
"Not when I'm being pursued by a powerful Greek god," I replied. Annabeth was trying to get me to come with her on vacation with her dad and step mom before they went back to Los Angeles. It was her first year of not staying at camp after summer was over, and she was safer than ever. But there was no way _I_ was stepping foot outside the camp borders. Not without getting struck by lightning.  
"Oh, big bad Zeus can't get you," she said jokingly, nudging me with her elbow. Thunder crashed in the distance, and I raised an eyebrow at her.  
"Okay, okay," she said, holding up her hands in surrender. "Don't give me that look. I get what you're saying."  
"Haven't you and your dad been getting along better?"  
Annabeth nodded slowly, a sad look in her eyes.  
"Yeah, I guess. I just wish you could come with me."  
I grinned and patted Annabeth on the shoulder.  
"Poor Wise Girl. Whatever will she do without me?" I said. Annabeth hit me playfully on the shoulder, which didn't hurt, like she intended it to. She hated not being stronger than me anymore.  
"I'm trying to be serious here," she said. "Sometimes I think my step mom hates me."  
"Ah, so it's your step mom, not your dad."  
Annabeth glared at me. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain. She's almost cruel sometimes."  
I looked at her, concerned. "Annabeth-"  
"I said 'sometimes.' Gods, I'm not looking forward to this trip. Not only is it dangerous for me to be out of camp, I'll have to miss school. And I don't even have the option of coming back to camp after I leave."  
"So don't leave," I offered. "Stay all year with me. You've stayed all year before. You love it."  
"I can't," she sighed. "There's just no way out of this trip."

Just then there was a knock on the door frame of my open cabin door. One of Annabeth's half-siblings stood there awkwardly.  
"Hey Annabeth," he said, glancing first at me then back at Annabeth. "Chiron says he needs to speak with you. Something about your dad."  
Annabeth and I exchanged a confused glance before she shrugged and left, leaving me alone with my level 3 cabin and the setting sun.

Later, after lying on my bunk for a while and sending an Iris message to my mom to make sure she knew I was staying, I decided to walk down to the mess hall. Dinner wasn't for another half hour, at least, but I needed something to do.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As I approached the dining pavilion, I saw Chiron talking with a nine year old girl wearing a brown dress. This shocked me, because normally the girl sat at the fire by the cabins.  
I walked up to them.  
"Lady Hestia," I said, bowing to the young girl, which felt kind of weird.  
"Percy Jackson," she replied warmly, smiling and nodding her head at me. Just being in her presence made me feel homesick, but also made my head swim with images of family and friends, home-cooked meals and holidays with people I loved. The good images. I almost forgot how I wasn't going to see my mom this year. Almost.  
"Chiron?" I said, my ADHD brain still wondering why Hestia wasn't in the commons. Hmm, now that I think about it, I didn't see her when I left my cabin. What was she doing here?  
"Yes, my boy?" Chiron said. He must have seen the confused look on my face, because he smiled and said, "Just going over dinner plans, Percy. Did you need something?"  
"Uh..." I said intelligently, glancing at Hestia again. She smiled at me. "No. Not really. I just needed something to do after you called Annabeth down."  
"Ah, yes, Miss Chase and her high spirits. Tomorrow night we're having a chariot race, for the first time in a while. She went to strategize with the few of her cabinmates that are left."

Now, that didn't make sense. Tomorrow was the last day of camp. Annabeth would be leaving to go on vacation. I looked at Chiron curiously. He chuckled, as if reading my thoughts.

"But she's not staying year round," I said.  
"She wasn't going to, no, but now she is."  
"Can I ask why?"  
"By all means."  
There was silence. Chiron and Hestia looked at each other.  
"Are you going to tell me why she's not leaving?" I asked Chiron.  
"Are you going to ask?"  
I rolled my eyes at his old Latin-teacher habits.  
"Why isn't Annabeth leaving?" I asked.  
"Her father came by about an hour ago," Chiron explained. "He wanted to tell Annabeth that something came up and they couldn't take their vacation. I told him that she was busy, either inspecting the cabins or speaking with you, but he insisted. So I sent her half-sibling Daniel to let her know her father was here."  
I nodded. Just then, I saw Annabeth strolling towards the dining pavilion, a huge smile on her face and her hands in her pockets.

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I suck at writing Chiron. You need not tell me this.  
Review?


	2. Danni the Beauty School Dropout

*drumroll....*  
CHAPTER 2!

Wow, I'm such a nerd.

I do not own Percy Jackson and/or the characters used in the story.

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**The Aphrodites: chapter 2**

The next day, as promised, Chiron held a chariot race. Athena won, of course. Athena always has a plan, and they always see it through. The few times they're beaten, it's because of pure wit and sometimes dumb luck.

The day after that, Grover and Juniper planned this crazy summer celebration. There was a huge bonfire on the beach (of course, Juniper stayed clear of that area) and tons of food. There were even some accidental fireworks (don't ask) that got the whole camp laughing.  
I hung out with Grover, Juniper and Annabeth after it was over. The four of us sat on the sand and ate the leftovers from the party. Juniper and Grover flirted and fed each other carrots and celery, laughing the whole time. Annabeth and I talked and rolled our eyes at our friends. There were a few other couples scattered around the beach. A daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Ares walked along the shore. Another daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Apollo were sitting cross-legged on the other side of the beach, facing each other and talking intently.  
I'm sure we stayed there for hours. Pretty soon, Juniper announced she needed to go back to her tree. Grover stood up and walked her to the forest. Annabeth and I decided we were tired and walked back to the cabins together.  
The next few weeks were pretty much the same as camp had always been. Aside from the fact that some of the older campers parked their cars near Half Blood Hill (protected by invisibility magic, of course) after driving around New York, camp was pretty much the same low-key, low-tech place it had always been.

When the sun set on October 21st, everyone was talking about Halloween. Normally, this wasn't ever an issue. Halloween wasn't necessarily related to the gods. Plus, there were usually too many demigods to do something fun and not dangerous, and the threat of monsters always convinced us to stay at camp. But ever since the war ended, most of the monsters went into hiding. They were big cowards when faced with a too-powerful demigod. Even if the scent of 40 or so demigods drew monsters to us, we could beat them easily. We train hard.  
Anyway, Annabeth and I sat on the beach that night, watching the sunset.  
"Do you really think Chiron will let everyone leave camp for Halloween?" she said, moving the sand at her feet with her toes. "I can understand letting the older campers go, but the new recruits..."  
"Why not?" I replied. "The war's over."  
"Well, still. I just find it funny. I mean, what are they gonna dress up as?" Annabeth laughed.  
I'll admit I'd thought about dressing up as something. I'm too old for trick-or-treating, but there were some pretty decent Halloween parties in Manhattan, which is where Chiron and Argus were taking the campers on the 31st. The Hermes campers planned on playing some pranks- after all, Halloween was the perfect night for pranks and tricks. The Aphrodite cabin planned on stopping by every restaurant and party wearing extremely decorative costumes. The Hecate cabin was especially excited, of course, and planned on showing New York what _real _witches looked like. It seemed like everyone had plans except me and Annabeth. Even Grover intended to spend the 31st doing something. Even if that 'something' was decorating the camp with Juniper, it was better than nothing. Which, at the moment, was my plan.  
"I don't know," I said. "They could dress up like mortals."  
"Yeah, that would be exciting," Annabeth said sarcastically.  
"Oh my _gods_," a girl's voice squealed. "You hair is, like, the most _gorgeous _color I have ever seen!"  
Annabeth and I looked over towards the sound of the announcement. Approaching us was a girl of about 15, with long chestnut hair and glittering hazel eyes. I recognized her as a daughter of Aphrodite, which kind of surprised me, considering Aphrodites weren't usually high-pitched. I mean, they were excitable, but this one just seemed giddy. She smiled at Annabeth, who glanced at me, confused.  
"Um, me?" she asked the girl.  
"Yes, you!" the girl replied. "It looks like honey. Or, like, sunflowers." She turned to me. "What do you think?"

"Uh, honey?" I guessed.  
"Yeah, me too. Aside from that gray streak. It looks like silver, not honey. You try dyeing it?"  
"No. It would be useless," Annabeth said coldly, remembering how she got that gray streak in her hair. I subconsciously rubbed my finger over the very same streak in my hair. I felt bad for the Aphrodite girl. Her petite features looked shocked and offended from Annabeth acting so harsh. I wanted to give the girl a hug for some reason. I offered an apologetic look her way. She smiled at me.  
"So, my names Danni," she said. "Aren't you Percy and Annabeth?"  
"How did you know our names?" Annabeth asked.  
"Well, aside from the fact that you two, like, saved the world," Danni said, "My sisters tell me about you all the time." She winked at us before dropping to the sand beside Annabeth. She flipped her movie-star hair over one shoulder. "What are you guys being for Halloween?" She asked us.  
"Nothing," Annabeth said.  
"Yet," I added quickly.  
"Oh my gods, you two should totally dress up as some famous couple!"  
Annabeth and I blushed and looked away from each other. Danni smirked and stood up.  
"Well, _my_ job's done," she said. "I'm off!" She turned on her heel and skipped over to two black-haired tree nymphs, who gave her thumbs-ups and high fives.  
"Uh, okay..." Annabeth said, staring off into space, her eyes lingering on the girls. She got that subconscious look on her face that meant she was thinking. I sat there for a few minutes before coughing awkwardly.  
"Do you think we should?" I asked nervously.  
"I'm sorry, what?" Annabeth said, turning her silver eyes on me and smiling apologetically for spacing out.  
"Do you think we should?" I asked again. "Dress up as famous people, that is."  
"A famous _couple_, you mean?"  
"Is _that_ what she said?" I asked innocently.  
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You really ought to pay more attention, Seaweed Brain," she teased.

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Well?  
Review?


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